Ethical Principles of Informed Consent: Exploring Nurses’ Dual Role of Care Provider and Researcher

Abstract

This article describes the ethical principles of autonomy, beneficence, and justice within the nurse researcher-participant relationship as these principles relate to the informed consent process for research. Within this process, the nurse is confronted with a dual role. This article describes how nurses, who are in the dual role of care provider and researcher, can apply these ethical principles to their practice in conjunction with the American Nurses Association's code of ethics for nurses. This article also describes, as an element of ethical practice, the importance of using participant-centered quality measures to aid informed decision making of participants in research. In addition, the article provides strategies for improving the informed consent process in nursing research. Finally, case scenarios are discussed, along with the application of ethical principles within the awareness of the dual role of the nurse as care provider and researcher.

Ethical Issues in Chinese Aesthetic Surgery

“…The initial aim of informed consent was to make sure that the correct dignity of the patient's independence is preserved at the time of decision making and the choice of medical options [5,14]. It is generally believed that ethical standards developed on the basis of Western values may not be appropriate for the setting of the developing or undeveloped country, in which cultural traditions, historical origins, and religious routes are different [15].…”

Mammography: Review of the Controversy, Health Disparities, and Impact on Young African American Women

“…This involves providing specific details to patients on the purpose, benefits, risks, and alternatives; without it, care is considered malpractice or negligent (Jatoi & Baum, 1993;Osman, 2001;Ward, 1999). Nurses have been and continue to be an integral entity of the multidisciplinary healthcare team involved in protecting patients' rights and ensuring that they understand medical procedures and interventions (Judkins-Cohn, Kielwasser-Withrow, Owen, & Ward, 2014;Sims, 2008aSims, , 2008b. Therefore, in obtaining consent from patients, nurses must not only have communication skills but also the clinical, legal, and ethical knowledge to serve in a number of roles: manager (ensure adequate process), witness (record patients' understanding), patient advocate (ensure patients' understanding), and information giver (recapitulate information in lay terms) (Judkins-Cohn et al, 2014;Susilo et al, 2013).…”

Research imperative

“…Encouraging participation in trials and viewing the patient as part of a larger disease cohort is seen as being in opposition to the principle that the only consideration for the caring physician is the patient standing in front of him or her. This line of thinking has even been extended to nurses who are engaged in clinical research [ 2 ].…”